Chapter 1

After my father spent another night away with his long-lost first love, my mother pulled her traditional folk-healing robes from the bottom of her closet.

People used to mock her back in the day. They said it wasn't worth leaving her home in the deep southern swamps and giving up her title as a Matriarch for a man.

My mother would always say, "I am with him because I love him. Don't worry about whether it is worth it."

But now, looking at her cold eyes, I knew she didn't love him anymore.

I thought about the video on my phone of my fiancé in a heated moment with someone else, and I grabbed her hand.

"Mom, would you mind training the next Matriarch of our lineage?"

1.

"Maeve, that secret herbal formula you have... can you hand it over?"

It was only the third day since my father's first love, Lydia Thorne, had returned to the country. He was already making demands.

"Grant, you know the family recipes are never shared with outsiders," my mother replied calmly.

"We are husband and wife, Maeve. How can you call me an outsider? Besides, I'm not giving it to just anyone. It's for Lydia."

Hearing that name made me look up and glare at him.

"Dad, Mom just said it's not for outsiders. Why are you trying to give it to her?"

"Lydia just joined our company and needs a win to secure her position," my father explained impatiently. "Of course I'm going to help her."

"So, to help her, you're asking Mom to give up her ancestral heritage? Is she really more important to you than my mother?"

My father's tone turned icy the moment I spoke.

"Sienna, why are you being so aggressive? Did your mother put you up to this? Stop overthinking everything like she does!"

My palms burned with rage. I wanted to scream, but my mother gently pulled me back.

"Fine, Grant. I'll get it ready for you later tonight."

A smile finally flickered across my father's face.

"Don't worry, Maeve. I'll make sure you're taken care of for this. You won't lose out."

Once he left, the dining room felt suffocating.

"Mom, he's shamelessly asking for your secrets for that woman, and you just said yes? How can you let him treat you like this?"

"You gave up everything from the swamps for him, and this is how he repays you!"

"Do you still love him after this?"

My mother looked at me quietly. There was no anger or sadness in her eyes, only a complex emotion I couldn't quite name.

"Sienna, don't just look at the surface of things."

I slumped back into my chair, my mind a mess.

I pulled out my phone and dialed my fiancé, Caleb Hayes. He didn't pick up.

I called three times, and every time it went straight to voicemail.

Just as I was about to try a fourth time, a message popped up on my phone.

"Sienna, I just saw your boyfriend. It looks like he took a girl back to his place."

My blood ran cold. A few seconds later, I was out the door, racing toward his apartment.

When the door opened, Caleb looked startled and frantic.

"Sienna? What are you doing here?"

I stared at his face, my teeth clenched.

"Am I interrupting something? Why didn't you answer your phone?"

He blocked the doorway, trying to look composed.

"I was busy and didn't notice the ringer. Why are you so worked up?"

Just as I was about to push past him, a sweet, cloying voice drifted from behind him.

"Caleb, babe, who's at the door?"